Foreword

Programming games is so fun! The simple reason is that you get to code so many different types of subsystems in a game, regardless of whether it's a simple Pac Man clone or a complex triple-A tactical shooter. Coding experience is very enriching, whether you’re writing a renderer, sound system, AI system, or the game code itself; all of these types of programming contain challenges that you get to solve. The best way to code in any of these areas is with the most knowledge you can absorb beforehand. This is why you should have a ton of programming books close at hand.

One area of game coding that hasn't gotten much exposure is scripting. Some games don't need scripting—whether or not a game does is often dependant on your development environment and team—but in a lot of cases, using scripting is an ideal way of isolating game code from the main engine, or even handling in-game cinematics. Most programmers, when faced with solving a particular coding problem (let's say handling NPC interaction, for instance), will usually decide to write their own elaborate custom language that integrates with their game code. With the scripting tools available today this isn't strictly necessary, but boy is it fun!

Many coders aren’t aware of the range of scripting solutions available today; that’s where this fine book comes in. Game Scripting Mastery is the best way to dive into the mysterious world of game scripting languages. You’ll learn what a scripting language is and how one is written; you’ll get to learn about Lua, Python, and Tcl and how to make them work with your game (I’m a hardcore proponent for Lua, by the way); and, of course, you’ll learn about compiler theory. You’ll even get to examine how a full scripting language is developed! There's lots of knowledge contain herein, and if you love coding games, I'm confident that you'll enjoy finding out more about this aspect of game programming. Have "The Fun!”

John Romero